Hear No Evil
by NoteEmmy
Summary: Atem's hearing a voice from long ago. ...or is he? potentially puzzleshipping, chances of updating nil, but please still enjoy!


It had been a long day, an even longer year made up of these sorts of arduous days. The kinds that dragged on and on with no lasting effect, no memories to be made or shared, no information to remember. Yet it was almost hard to say that the year had made little difference to so many lives. It had, there was no questioning that fact. This year was full of a life finally being lived. A life that had impacted a group of people- some might even say the whole world. The excitement that should have been brimming over the top was nowhere to be seen or felt.

It was just another long day that had ended when the night's chill had descended down on the streets and the stars dotted the dark sky. The keys rattled in the old lock of the apartment door as Atem stepped inside. The living space was small, but exactly what he needed; nothing unnecessary or extra to get in the way. He wouldn't have liked a large space with nothing filling it, and he wouldn't have enjoyed something too small either (for almost too obvious reasons). His Duel Disk was unstrapped from his arm, placed carefully down on the coffee table in the living room, his belt with the deck box on it following suit.

After doing that he dropped to his knees, a swift movement that ended with a thud. Then he turned around and laid on the floor. He'd done something in the past week to mess up the flow of his stance. When he stood it hurt his lower back all the way up into his shoulders. Whenever he shifted his hips in the midst of a duel or even when he was walking normally, a pain crept all the way up his spine. He'd been given many remedies, some food or drink related, some actual clear medical advice; things that could only be preformed by said medical professionals. This was simple enough, though.

Just lying on the cold wood of the floor to straighten himself out. It didn't hurt just then. Everything ceased for a few minutes as he adjusted his breathing, slow bouts of in and out to calm his nerves and ease his muscles.

The most annoying noise ripped straight through his thoughts and disturbed his trance. It was coming from down the hall; some terrible music from one of his neighbors. The walls weren't known for being horrendously thin in this building, so it must have been cranked up extremely high. Now he couldn't concentrate at all, and soon drunken singing joined the screeching cadence that he was being greeted with.

A sigh left his lungs, a twitch in his back as he found it hurt. Reaching his hand up, arm extending all the way, he covered the image of the bare light bulb. Shadows creased around his face and down over the floor. He was given a small reprieve as the music and singing stopped. His eyes closed.

"You've fallen so far." A familiar and eerie voice filled the space of his apartment and mind.

Atem didn't even look to see who was there. It didn't matter. That voice had disappeared from his life more than three thousand years ago. Whether there was an actual presence in the room didn't matter at all because that voice just didn't exist in this time. But ignoring it didn't seem to work.

"Pharaoh, is this really how you saw your life?"

His eyes blinked open but slipped back closed about half-way. His hand was still stretched and keeping the light from impeding his vision. "I am not that person anymore." He answered with a relative ease, forgetting for just a second that no one was there.

"You will always be that person."

He considered these words for a long while. It seemed like it could have gone on easily for twenty or so minutes. Maybe he found himself surprised that the voice waited. Then again, that person had always been patient with him. "But not in this time."

"Do you really belong here?" Despite having waited so long, the voice answered relatively quickly. Or maybe waiting had given it just the right tempo to be able to beat back so quickly.

He nodded to no one. "I've made my decision."

"And if it was wrong?"

If? Why bother with that possibility? It didn't feel wrong. He liked being here. He liked seeing his friends and filling the time of a life that was ripped too early for him. While he thought these things he almost found himself waiting for the voice to intrude. It didn't. Was it possible that the voice could not also hear his thoughts? "It wasn't wrong."

"Why have you stayed here rather than go to the arms of the people who have already waited too long? What is it that keeps you here?" The voice sounded sullen, almost hurt. It was no longer the calm and careful neutral that it had started out with.

It was just the sort of thing to make Atem feel guilty. His hands came down over his forehead, hiding the creases in the worry-lines that he was creating, eyes shutting again. "Are you saying I was wrong?" He shifted his tactics. Answering pointedly was not working.

The voice paused for once before considering. "The Pharaoh has never been wrong."

"Why are you questioning me, then?" A little bit of frustration.

Silence filled the space of the apartment again, just as there had been when he'd first come home. His eyes blinked open, hands leaving his face as he sat up. There was no one there. Well of course there wasn't. He'd known that from the beginning. But how could that voice just leave in the middle of their conversation?

A hesitant sounding knock came to the front door. It confused Atem for just a moment, almost like he wasn't sure of his surroundings. If anyone had been there to see his face, it would have held the sincerest form of confusion. Recognition trickled in after only another moment; he stood and moved over to the door. Pulling it open revealed absolutely no one in the hallway. He even stuck his head to make sure that no one was walking away just in case he'd taken too much time in answering.

The shrill cry of the phone shook him to his core. It surprised him and caused a jump in his heartbeat that nearly hurt. A shaking hand reached towards the phone,

"Hello?"

There was nothing but a dial tone, as if he'd picked it up to make a call himself. He grimaced, placing the phone back in the cradle. His eyes darted around the apartment, scared of each and every shadow hiding in the corners now. It was a panic he hadn't felt in a very long time. Something was there, listening to him, watching his every move.

"Why were you talking to yourself?"

The voice behind him caused him to jump, hand hitting against the wall as he spun.

Violet eyes looked up at him from the space of the open apartment door.

"When..." How had Yuugi gotten in there?

His partner looked worried. "I heard you talking to yourself when I was knocking on the door."

Yuugi had been the one knocking on the door? How was that even possible? "Talking to myself?"

"It sounded like you were carrying out an entire conversation with yourself."

Atem felt a cold coil wind tightly in his chest. Yuugi would never lie. Had he really been talking to himself the entire time? Both sides? He didn't have any words to share at that point in time.

The shorter of the two caught the look in his other self's eyes- scared. It wasn't a look Atem wore well with his usual pride and arrogance. "Are you okay?"

"I answered the door?" He didn't understand what was going on. He'd pulled open the door and no one was there. That had _just_ happened. How could his recollection of the event already be so muddled?

Yuugi nodded slowly. "You answered it and then left to make a phone call." At least that's what it had looked like. "Then you put the phone away and just stood there... staring off into space."

Atem's eyes narrowed, not angry but worried. What had just happened? Was he losing his mind? Was something playing tricks on him?

He swallowed tightly, forcing a smirk to the surface. There was nothing wrong, and even less reason to be nervous around Yuugi. He didn't want to worry his partner. "It's been a long day." A semi-apology that he hoped would work.

It was slow, but eventually Yuugi smiled and nodded. "Yeah. Maybe you should get some rest. I'll go back to the shop and see you tomorrow instead."

"Alright, _Aibou_." It sounded like a good plan even if he was suddenly feeling wary of being alone. He'd never admit it.

The parting goodbyes were given and Yuugi headed off. Atem stood alone in the center of his apartment, looking around. Nothing was here. He even held his breath for as long as he could to try and see if he could hear anything at all that would give away something. But there was nothing, not even the annoying music from earlier.

"Had that been real too?"

His own voice scared him now. Why did he need to talk aloud? He resolved to speak only in his mind. And he was sure that the music had been real. He was so sure of it.

"But then..."

His eyes shut tightly as he walked into his bedroom. Nothing spectacular or mysterious was happening here. It really had just been a long day and he needed sleep. There was no reason to panic.

"None at all."

"Stop it."

For a moment he realized that he'd just spoken twice to himself. Trailing a thought from his mind and then seconds later telling himself to stop. He really needed to. His hands closed over his head again as he laid in bed, trying to force himself to sleep. There was nothing here to be worried about.

"Nothing at all."


End file.
